/a 


mo 


DnnUbuojjH . 


4?I3 


No.  239. 


CHRIST  THE  ONLY  REFUGE 


FROM 


THE  WRATH  TO  GOME. 


raOM 
HERVEY'S  TKERON  AND  ASPASIO. 


PUBLISHED  BY 

THE  EVANGELICAL  TRACT  SOCIETY, 

PETERSBURG,  VA. 

1864. 


c 


CHRIST  THE  ONLY  REFUGE, 


Give  me  leave  ta  relate  an  uncommon  incident,  which  hap- 
pened a  little  while  ago  in  this  neighbourhood, ^md  of  which 
1  myself  was  a  spectator.  The  day  was  the  Sabbath  j  the 
place  appropriated  to  Divine  worship  was  the  scene  of  this 
remarkable  affair.  .     . 

A  boy  came  running  into  the  church,  breathless  and  trem- 
bling. He  told,  but  in  a  low  voice,  those  who  stood  near, 
that  a  press-gang  was  advancing  to  besiege  the  door,  and  ar- 
rest the  sailors.  An  alarm  was  immediately  taken.  The  sea- 
men, with  much  hurry  and  no  small  anxiety,  began  to  shift 
for  themselves.  The  rest  of  the  congregation,  perceiving  an 
unusual  stir,  were  struck  with  surprise.  A  whisper  of  in- 
quiry ran  from  seat  to  seat,  which  increased  by  degrees  into 
a  confused  murmur.  No  one  could  inform  his  neighbour ; 
therefore  every  one  was  left  to  solve  the  appearance  from  the 
suggestions  of  a  timorous  imagination.  Some  suspected  the 
town  was  on  fire.  Some  were  apprehensive  of  an  invasion 
from  the  Spaniards.  Others  looked  up,  and  looked  round,  to 
see  if  the  walls  were  not  giving  way,  and  the  roof  falling 
upon  their  heads.  In  a  few  moments,  the  consternation  be- 
came general.  The  men  stood  like  statues,  in* silent  amaze- 
ment, and  unavailing  perplexity.  The  women  shrieked  aloud, 
and  fell  into  fits.  Nothing  was  seen  but  wild  'disorder ; 
nothing  was  heard  but  tumultuous  clamour.  The  preacher's 
voice  was  drowned.  Had  he  spoken  in  thunder,  his  message 
would  scarcely  have  been  regarded.  To  have  gone  on  with 
his  work,  amidst  such  a  prodigious  ferment,  had  been  like 
arguing  with  a  whirlwind,  or  talking  to  a  tempest. 

This  brought  to  my  mind  that  great  tremendous  day,  when 
the  heavens  will  pass  away,  when  the  earth  will  be  dissolved, 
and  all  its  inhabitants  receive  their  final  doom.  If,  at  such 
incidents  of  very  inferior  dread,  our  hearts  are  ready  to  fail, 
what  unknown  and  ineonceivable  astonishment  must  seize  the 
guilty  conscience,  when  the  hand  of  the  Almighty  shall  open 
those  unparelleled  scenes  of  wonder,  desolation,  and  horror  ! 


CHRIST  THE  ONLY  REFUGE.  o 

When  the  trumpet  shall  sound,  the  dead  arise,  the  world  be 
in  flames,  the  Judge  on  the  throne,  and  all  mankind  at  the 
bar! 

"The  trumpet  shall  sound,"  1  Cor.  xv.  52,  says  the  pro- 
phetic teacher ;  and~how  startling,  how  stupendous  the  sum- 
mons! Nothing  equal  to  it,  nothing  like  it,  was  ever  heard 
through  all  the  regions  of  the  universe,  and  all  the  revolu- 
tions of  time.  When  conflicting  armies  have  discharged  the 
bellowing  artillery  of  war,  or  Jwhen  victorious  armies  have 
shouted  for  joy  of  the  conquest,  the  seas,  and  shores  have 
rung,  the  mountains  and  plains  have  echoed.  But  the  voice 
of  the  archangel,  and  the  trump  of  God  will  resound  from 
pole  to  pole.  They  will  shake  the  pillars  of  heaven,  and 
startle  the  dungeon  of  hell.  They  will  penetrate  the  deepest 
recesses  of  the  tomb.  •  They  will  pour  their  amazing  thunder 
into  all  those  abodes  of  silence.  The  dead,  the  very  dead 
shall  hear. 

When  the  trumpet  has  sounded,  "The  dead  shall  arise." 
In  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  the  graves  open  ; 
monumental  piles  are  cleft  asunder ;  and  the  nations  under 
ground  start  into  day.  What  an  immense  harvest  of  men 
and  women,  springing  up  from  the  caverns  of  the  earth,  and 
the  depths  of  the  sea  !  Stand  awhile,  my  soul,  and  consider 
the  wonderful  spectacle.  Adam,  formed  in  Paradise,  and  the 
babe  borne  but  yesterday,  the  earliest  ages  and  latest  genera- 
tions, meet  on  the  same  level.  Jews  and  Gentiles,  Greeks 
and  Barbarians,  people  of  all  climes  and  languages,  unite  in 
the  promiscuous  throng.  Here  those  vast  armies,  which,  like 
swarms  of  locusts,  covered  countries,  which,  with  an.  irresisti- 
ble sweep,  overran  empires;  here  they  all  appear,  and  hero 
they  are  lost ;  lost  like  the  small  drop  of  a  bucket,  when 
plunged  into  the  unfathomable  and  boundless  ocean.  Oh!  the 
multitudes!  the  multitudes!  which  these  eyes  shall  survey, 
when  God  "  shall  call  to  the  heavens  from  above,  and  to  the 
earth,  that  he  may  judge  his  people  !"  What  shame  must 
flush  the  guilty  cheek  !  what  anguish  wound  the  polluted 
breast!  to  have  all  their  filthy  practices  and  infamous  tem- 
pers exposed  before  this  innumerable  crowd  of  witnesses  ! 
Vlee,  guilty  sinners,  instantly  flee,  earnestly  flee  to  the  puri- 
fying blood  of  Jesus,  that  all  your  sins  may  be  blotted  out, 


4  CHRIST  THE  ONLY  REFUSE. 

that  you  may  be  found  unblamable  and  unreprovable  in  the 
presence  of  the  assembled  world,  and,  what  is  of  infinitely 
more  importance,  in  the  sight  of  the  omnipotent  God. 

There  is  no  more  need  of  this  habitable  globe.  The  righte- 
ous have  fought  a  good  fight,  and  finished  their  course.  The 
wicked  have  been  tried,  and  found  incorrigible.  Woe  be  to 
the  earth,  and  to  the  works  thereof!  Its  streams  are  turned 
into  pitch,  its  dust  into  brimstone,  and  the  breath  of  the  Al- 
mighty, like  a  torrent  of  fire,  enkindles  the  whole  I  See  t 
see  !  how  the  conflagration  rages — spreads — prevails  over  all  1 
The  forests  are  in  a  blaze,  and  the  mountains  are  wrapped  in 
flame.  Cities,  kingdoms,  continents;  sink  into  the  burning 
deluge.  America,  Britain,  Europe,  are  no  more  !  Through 
all  the  receptacles  of  water,  through  all  the  tracts  of  land, 
through  the  whole  estent  of  air;  nothing  is  discernible  but 
one  vast,  prodigiops,  fiery  ruin.  Where  are  now  the  treasures 
of  the  covetous  ?  Where  the  possessions  of  the  mighty  ? 
Where  the  delights  of  the  voluptuous?  How  wise,  how 
happy  are  they,  whose  portion  is  lodged  in  heavenly  mansions  ! 
Their  inheritance  is  incorruptible,  such  as  the  last  fire  cannot 
reach,  nor  the  dissolution  of  nature  impair. 

But  see  the  azure  vault  cleaves.  The  expanse  of  heaven 
is  rolled  back  like  a  scroll ;  and  the  Judge,  the  Judge  ap- 
pears !  "  He  eometh,"  cries  a  mighty  seraph,  the  herald  of 
his  approach;  "He  cometh  to  judge  the  world  in  righteous- 
ness, and  minister  true  judgment  unto  the  people  I"  He 
cometh,  not  as  formerly,  in  the  habit  of  a 'servant,  but  clad 
with  uncreated  glory,  and  magnificently  attended  with  the 
armies  of  heaven.  Angels  and  archangels  stand  before  him, 
and  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  of  these  celestial  spirits 
minister  unto  him,  Behold  him,  ye  followers  of  the  Lamb, 
and  wonder  and  love !  This  is  he,  who  bore  all  your  ini- 
quities on  the  ignominious  cross.  This  is  he,  who  fulfilled 
all  righteousness  for  the  justification  of  your  persons.  Be- 
hold him,  ye  "  despisers"  of  his  grace,  "  and  wonder  and 
perish."  This  is  he,  whoSe  merciful  overtures  you  have  con- 
temned, and  on  whose  precious  blood  you  have  trampled. 
The  great  white  throne,*  beyond  description   august  and 

*  Rev.  xx.  lis. 


CHRIST  THE   ONLY  REFUGE.  5 

formidable,  is  erected.  The  King  of  heaven,  the  Lord  of 
glory,  takes  his  seat  on  the  dreadful  tribunal.  Mercy,  on  his 
right  hand  displays  the  olive  branch  of  peace,  and  holds  forth 
the  crown  of  righteousness.  Justice,  on  his  left,  poises  the 
impartial  scale,  and  unsheathes  the  sword  of  vengeance. 
While  wisdom  and  holiness,  brighter  than  ten  thousand  suns, 
beam  in  his  Divine  aspect.  What  are  all  the  preceding 
events  to  this  new  scene  of  dignity  and  awe!  The  peals  of 
thunder  sounding  in  the  archangel's  trumpet',  the  blaze  of  a 
burning  world,  the  strong  convulsions  of  expiring  nature,  the 
unnumbered  myriads  of  the  dead  starting  into  instantaneous 
life,  and  thronging  the  astonished  skies;  all  these  seem 
familiar  incidents,  compared  with  the  appearance  of  the  in- 
carnate Jehovah.  Amazement,  more  than  amazement,  is  all 
around.  Terror  and  glory  unite  in  their  extremes.  From 
the  sight  of  his  majestic  eye,  from  the  insupportable  splen- 
dours of  his  face,  the  earth  itself  and  the  very  heavens  flee 
away.  How  then — oh  !  how  shall  the  ungodly  stand ;  stand 
in  his  angry  presence,  and  draw  near  to  this  consuming  fire  ! 
Yet,  draw  near  they  must,  and  take  their  trial,  their  deci- 
sive trial,  at  his  righteous  bar.  Every  actfen  comes  under 
examination.  For  each  idle  word  they  must  give  account. 
Not  so  much  as  a  single  thought  escapes  his  scrutiny.  How 
shall  the  criminals,  the  impenitent  criminals,  either  conceal 
their  guilt,  or  elude  the  sentence.  They  have  to  do  with  a 
sagacity  too  keen  to  be  deceived  j  with  a  power  too  strong  to 
be  resisted  J  and  (oh  !  terrible,  terrible  consideration  !)  with  a 
severity  of  most  just  displeasure,  that  will  never  relent, 
never  be  entreated  more  !  What  ghastly  despair  appears  in 
their  faces !  What  racking  agonies  rend  their  distracted 
hearts  !  The.  bloody  axe,  and  torturing  wheel  are  ease,  are 
down,  compared  with  their  prodigious  woe.  And  (0  holy 
God!  wonderful  in  thy  doings!  fearful  in  thy  judgments!) 
even  this  prodigious  woe  is  the  gentlest  of  visitations, 
compared  with  that  indignation  and  wrath  which  are  hanging 
over  their  guilty  heads — which  are  even  now  falling  on  all 
the  sons  of  rebellion — which  will  plunge  them  in  aggravated 
and  endless  destruction. 

"And  is  there  a  last  day?  and  must  there  come, 
A.  sure,  a  fixed,  irrevocable  doom?" 


0  CHRIST   THE  .ONLY   REFUGE. 

Surely,  then,  the  main  care  of  our  lives  should  be  to  ob- 
tain peace  and  acceptance  before  the  dreadful  tribunal  of  God. 
And  what  is  sufficient  for  this  purpose  but  righteousness? 
What  rigteousness,  or  whose  ?  Ours,  or  Christ's?  Ours,  in 
the  inherent  graces  wrought  in  us,  in  the  holy  works  wrought 
by  us?  Or  Christ's  in  his  most  perfect  obedience  and  meri- 
torious satisfaction,  wrought  for  us,  and  applied  to  us?  God 
is  as  explicit  on  this  subject,  as  his  word  can  make  him ; 
everywhere  exposing  the  defects  of  our .  own'  righteousness, 
everywhere  displaying  the  perfect  obedience  of  our  Redeemer. 

"  Behold !"  says  the  everlasting  King,  "  I  lay  in  Zion  for  a 
foundation  a  stone,  a  tried  stone,  a  precious  corner-stone,  a 
sure  foundation  :  he  that  believeth  shall  not  make  haste."  * 
As  this  text  contains  so  noble  a  display  of  our  Saviour's  con- 
summate ability  for  this  great  work,  as  it  is  admirably  calcu- 
lated to  preserve  the  mind  from  distressing  fears,  and  to  set- 
tle in  a  steady  tranquility,  I  will  touch  it  cursorily  with  my 
pen. 

How  beautiful  the  gradation  !  How  lively  the  account, 
and  how  very  important  the  practical  improvement.  Come, 
look  at  the  inscription,  which  is  engraven  on  this  wonderful 
stone — "Behold!"  Intended  to  rouse  and  fix  our  most  at- 
tentive regard.  The  God  of  heaven  speaks.  He  speaks,  and 
every  syllable  is  balm  ;  every  sentence  is  rich  with  consola- 
tion. If  ever,  therefore,  we  have  ears  to  hear,  let  us  bend 
them  to  this  Speaker,  and  on  this  occasion. 

"A  stone."  Everything  else  is  sliding  sand,  is  yielding 
air,  is  a  breaking  bubble.  Wealth  will  prove  a  vain  shadow; 
honor  an  empty  breath;  pleasure  a  delusive  dream;  our  own 
righteousness  a  spider's  web.  If  on  these  we  rely,  disap- 
pointment must  ensue,  and  shame  is  inevitable.  Nothing  but 
Christ,  nothing  but  Christ,  can  stably  support  our  spiritual 
interesfs,  and  realize  our  expectation  of  true  happiness.  And, 
blessed  be  the  Divine  goodness,  he  is,  for  this  purpose,  not  a 
stone  only,  but 

.  "  A -tried  stone."  Tried,  in  the  days  of  his  humanity,  by 
all  the  vehemence  of  temptation,  and  all  the  weight  of  afflic- 
tions;  yet,  like  gold  from  the  furnace,  rendered  more  shining 

*  Isa.  xxriii.   t§. 


CHRIST   THE    ONLY   REFUGE.  7 

and  illustrioui  by  the  fiery  scrutiny.  Tried,  in  the  character 
of  a  Saviour  by  millions  and  millions  of  depraved,  wretched, 
ruined  creatures,  who  have  always  found  him  perfectly  able, 
and  as  perfectly  willing,  to  expatiate  the  most  enormous  guilt, 
to  deliver  from  the  most  inveterate  corruptions,  and  to  save, 
to  the  very  uttermost,  all  that  come  unto  God  through  him. 

"A  corner  stcne."  Which  not  only  sustains,  but  unites 
the  edifice;  incorporating  both  Jews  and  Gentiles,  believers 
of  various  languages,  and  manifold  denominations;  here,  in 
one  harmonious  band  of  brotherly  love,  hereafter,  in  one 
common  participation  of  eternal  joy. 

"A  precious  stone."  "More  precious  than  rubies;  the 
Pearl  of  great  price,  and  the  Desire  of  all  nations.  Precious 
with  regard  to  the  Divine  dignity  of  his  Person  and  the  un- 
equalled excellence  of  his  mediatorial  offices.  In  these,  and 
all  respects,  wiser  than  Solomon,  fairer  than  the  children,  of 
men,  chicftest  among  ten  thousand  ;  and,  to  the  awakened  sin- 
ner, or  enlightened  believer,  altogether  lovely. 

"  A  sure  foundation."  Such  as  no  pressure  can  shake, 
equal,  more  than  equal,  to  every  weight,  even  to  sin,  the 
heaviest  load  in  the  world.  The  Ptock  of  ages,  such  as  ne.ver 
has  failed,  never  will  fail  those  humble  penitents,  who  cast 
their  burden  upon  the  Lord  their  Redeemer ;  who  roll  all 
their  guilt  and  fix  their  whote  hopes,  on  this  immovable  basi;-:. 
Or,  as  the  words  may  be  rendered,  "  A  foundation !  a  founda- 
tion I"  There  is  a  fine  spirit  of  vehemency  in  the  sentence 
thus  understood.  It  speaks  the  language  of  exultation,  and 
expresses  an  important  .discovery.  That  which  mankind  in- 
finitely want;  that  which  multitudes  seek,  and  find  not;  it  is 
here  !  it  is  here  !  Thii,  this  is  the  foundation  for  their  par- 
don, their  peace,  their  eternal  felicity. 

J*  Whosoever  believeth,"  though  pressed  with  adversities, 
or  surrounded  by  danger,  shall  not  make  haste.  But,  free 
from  tumultuous  and  perplexing  thoughts,  preserved  from  rash 
and  precipitate  steps,  he  shall  possess  his  soul  in  patience. 
Knowing  the  sufficiency  of  those  merits,  and  #he  fidelity  of 
that  grace,  on  which  he  has  reposed  his  confidence,  he  shall 
quietly,  and  without  perturbation,  wait  for  an  expected  end. 
And  not  only  amidst  the  perilous  or  disastrous  changes  of  life, 
but  even  in  the  day  of  everlasting  judgment,  such  persons 


8  CHRIST  THE   ONLY  REFUGE. 

• 
shall  stand  with  boldness.  They  shall  look  up  to  the  grand 
Arbitrator,  look  round  on  all  the  solemnities  of  his  appear- 
ance, look  forward  to  the  Unalterable  sentence,  and  neither 
feel  anxiety  nor  fear  damnation. 

Reader,  these  awful  scenes  must  pass  before  thine  eyes, 
and  thou  wilt  feel  an  interest  in  them,  infinitely  more  impres- 
sive and  affecting  than  all  thy  present  joys  or  sorrows.  Let 
thy  unworthiness,  fear,  and  guilt,  be  now  ever  so  great,  there 
is  hope  concerning  thee ;  for  Jesus  is  "  exalted  to  be  a  Prince 
and  a  Saviour,  to  give  repentance  and  remission  of  sins;" 
but  when  thou  shalt  see  "  thy  God  in  glory,  and  the  world  on 
fire,"  nothing  will  then  remain  for  thee,  but  a  "  certain  fear- 
ful looking  for  of  judgment  and  fiery  indignation ;w  or  the 
immediate  and  happy  expectation  of  being  received  "  into  the 
joy  of  the  Lord."  May  God  deliver  thee  from  the  bitter 
pains  of  eternal  death,  and  bestow  on  thee  the  glorious  bless- 
ings of  everlasting  life  and  salvation  ! 


Jesus,  lover  of  my  soul, 

Let  me  to  thy  bosom  fly, 
While  the  billows  hear  me  roll, 

While  the  tempest  still  is  high ; 
Hide  me,  0  my  Saviour,  hide, 

Till  the  storm  of  life  is  past 
Safe  into  the  haven  guide, 

Oh !  receive  my  soul  at  last. 

Other  refuge  have  I  none, 

Hangs  my  helpless  soul-Qn  thee, 
Leave,  oh !  leave  me  not  alone, 

Still  support  and  comfort  me. 
All  my  trust  on  thee  is  stay'd, 

All  mine  help  from  thee  I  bring; 
Cover  my  defenceless  head 

With  the  shadow  of  thy  wing. 


Hollinger  Corp. 
PH8.5 


